Africa

Out of Gleneagles

The first meeting of leading industrialised countries, the Group of Six summit in Rambouillet, was held in the shadow of events in the Middle East. In November 1975 the leaders gathered to discuss "serious energy problems" arising from the oil crisis that erupted in the wake of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Thirty years later the world's leaders met under the banner of the Group of Eight, once again in the shadow of events with their roots in the geopolitics of the Middle East. The deadly terrorist bombing in London while the G8 leaders were meeting in Gleneagles threatened to wrench the summit away from its focus on Africa. It would have been deeply unfortunate if a meeting devoted to tackling poverty in some of the world's poorest countries had been sabotaged by the bombings, but Tony Blair was right not to allow it. In that light, it was welcome that the G8 promised to provide an additional $3bn a year for Palestine.

After the flurry of activity on Friday, as the summit's hard-fought communiques were published, it is worth reflecting on what was achieved for Africa. Rising disquiet among NGOs and activists about the perils of celebrity involvement alongside the Make Poverty History campaign was confirmed by Bob Geldof's declaration that Gleneagles' conclusion was a great day for Africa, praising the deal on aid as "10 out of 10", on debt as "8 out of 10" and on trade as an "excellent result". In fact, the outcome was wide of these marks, especially in trade, which if anything was a step backwards (perhaps -1 out of 10 on the Geldof scale). If Mr Geldof is right, then Make Poverty History campaigners may as well pack up and go home, since there is little left for them to achieve. But this highlights the disjunction in aims between the activists and celebrities. The NGOs - especially those that run projects in the developing world - want to see tangible results, while the celebrities want recognition for their cause. Poverty will not have been made history just because the "two Bs" (Bob and Bono) declare it so.

Credit for any good that comes from Gleneagles - a substantial increase in pledges of aid, and confirmation of a reduction in the debt burden on the world's poorest countries - deserves to go to the NGOs that battled to keep the issue of poverty in the headlines, as well as Mr Blair and Gordon Brown for dedicating the G8 presidency to the cause of Africa. A measure of how far things have come can be seen in the G7 communique from the Munich summit of 1992, which carried a single sentence: "Sub-Saharan Africa, above all, gives cause for concern." At Gleneagles, that cause for concern ran into several pages of detailed proposals, ranging from peacekeeping to HIV/Aids prevention. Those NGO campaigners who have been working on these issues for many years know that the quick fix demanded by their celebrity bedfellows will not necessarily translate those proposals into action. To raise the issue of poverty and Africa is important, but keeping them alive in the public eye is more important still.

To the British, the name Gleneagles means little more than a famous hotel and golf course. But in Africa the name Gleneagles has a greater historical resonance: it was there in 1977 that Commonwealth heads of state drew up the Gleneagles agreement on sporting contacts with South Africa, a pact that - with some dishonourable exceptions - cemented the sporting boycott of the perverted apartheid regime. It was arguably the first concerted international action that led to South Africa becoming a pariah. It took many years and much struggle until the apartheid state finally collapsed 13 ears later in 1990. If the latest Gleneagles summit is to be counted as a success for Africa, it will also take much more effort before poverty truly is made history.

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